Julie Benz

Spotlight By: Andrea Tuccillo
AndreaTuccillo@TheCinemaSource.com

For avid television watchers, Julie Benz has been a familiar face for quite some time. After pivotal roles on series such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Roswell and guest spots on shows like CSI, Supernatural, and King of Queens, the Pittsburgh native finally hit paydirt with a role on the marvelously macabre Showtime series Dexter. While Dexter fans are used to seeing Benz as Rita, the meek and mild girlfriend of a serial killer, they may be surprised to see her holding her own opposite Sylvester Stallone in the latest action-packed installment of the Rambo franchise.

In the film (directed, written, and starring Stallone), Benz plays Sara, a missionary working in the war-torn country of Burma. Rambo agrees to accompany and protect Sara and the other missionaries on their quest to deliver aid to the persecuted Burmese people. Their mission turns dangerous and deadly quick, and Rambo must do his best to get them out alive.

'There were quite a few things that intrigued me about doing the movie,' Benz says. 'Definitely the social message behind the movie, how it's set against a war zone of Burma and how it's bringing to light a situation that's one of the most underreported wars in the world and one of the most horrific places of human rights violations and atrocities going on. That was very important to me, because it's not just an action movie for the sake of action. The character is also very interesting. To be able to hold my own against Sylvester Stallone on screen, I mean this is a film icon. He is larger than life. There is a reason why everybody in the world knows his name. He just has a presence on film.'

Stallone also had quite a presence behind the camera and a style of directing that appealed to Benz. 'He's a great director and I think he's an amazing filmmaker,' she says. 'He's an extremely jovial man and he really tries to put you at ease. He knows that we're all freaking out because it's Sylvester Stallone so he introduces himself as Sly, he's the first one to make fun of himself, he's great. He's also extremely demanding as a director but he doesn't demand anything out of you that he doesn't deliver himself. He has this theory which is what we're doing on film is being captured for eternity and you don't want two hours later, two weeks later, two years later to regret your performance. So basically it's deliver your best in each moment that's being captured on film, rather than having regrets down the line. His level of commitment'I've never seen a more committed person than him.'

Was she ever worried that the 60-year-old actor wouldn't be able to keep up with the film's intense action' 'Have you seen him'!' Benz asks with a laugh. 'He's not 60 like we know it. He's in amazing shape and he's not playing Rambo as a 30 year old, he's playing Rambo as a 60 year old. When I read the script, he's not trying to pretend he's something that he isn't. The Rambo in the movie is a much older Rambo who's hard and pretty much a shell of a man and all of that. So I never questioned that he wouldn't be able to do it.'

She did, however, make sure she was in equally as great shape to tackle the role's demanding stunts and action sequences. 'Well when I first got the call about taking a meeting and I first read the script, in the script it says Rambo and Sara run through the jungle and then Sara and Rambo run away from the bad guys and Rambo and Sara run up a hill and I thought, 'Ha! I should start some running,'' she says. 'And I am a runner, so I just upped my cardio really. It wasn't necessary for me to be all big and buff but it was necessary for me to be as fit as possible so I could do those 20 takes of running up a hill in 120 degree heat and not be exhausted by it. So I started doing a lot of sprints and upped my cardio sessions and really worked hard at that aspect of it.'

Aside from the physical preparation, Benz also took the time to delve into Burma's history and form a background for her character. 'I did a lot of research on Burma and the situation that's going on in Burma,' she says. 'Then I talked to a couple of missionaries as well but for me it was more about finding her courage. This is a very courageous woman that's going into a war zone to help others that she doesn't know. It's extremely courageous to do and for me it was really finding how I can relate to that. What in me brings that courage out''

She also felt a certain obligation to woman with this role, being that Rambo is quite a male-centric story. 'Even though I come across as very girly'and I am very girly'I also have this competitive side to myself,' she explains. 'It was very important to me while filming this movie that I held my own in a man's world.'

Her role was important for other reasons too'she's the franchise's only female character that survives to see the end of the movie. 'I still can't believe it; to be the only female in the Rambo franchise that actually lives,' Benz says. 'There's one female in Rambo 2 and she dies as soon as she said 'Take me with you.' She was dead. So to be the only one that actually lives is a huge honor and to be part of such an iconic franchise and to work with somebody like Sylvester Stallone and to actually be able to call him Sly is still very surreal. I still giggle about it.'

There's a lot for Benz to marvel over to these days'even the way she got cast was a bit of a shock for her. 'This was one of those rare jobs where I didn't have to audition,' she says. '[Stallone] was a fan of Dexter and they called and asked if I would take a meeting with him and I went in and met with him and we talked about the script and they made an offer. It was one of those very surreal like, you're a fan of mine' Are you sure you want Julie Benz''

Having just wrapped another film, Punisher 2: War Zone, and with a third season of Dexter already given the green light (and season 1 set to re-air on CBS), Benz might want to start getting used to the fact that she's an actress in demand.